Institute 


Armour 

of  TechnoVogy. 


Library, 


Chicago* 


lib. 


i 


“Copsider  wtiat  yoii  t\ave 
ir|  t Y\q  srpallest  ct)oseq  li- 
brary. A corppapy  of  tY\e 
Wisest  apd  wittiest  rrieri 
tt\at  coiild  be  picked  out  of 
all  ciuil  coUptries  ip  a ttjous- 
apd  years  l]ave  set  ip  best 
order  tlpe  results  of  tlpeir 
learpipg  apd  Wisdorpb 

Errierson. 


THE  CIT Y LIBRARY  AND  ITS  HOME. 


D~l 

T l 1-3+ 


LIBRHRY  COMMITTEE  OF  COUNCIL. 

MR.  JOHN  HARTMAN,  Chairman. 

ROYAL  A.  GOVE,  M.  D. 

MR.  C.  A.  CAVENDER. 


HDYISORY  COMMITTEE. 

PROF.  R.  S.  BINGHAM,  Principal  Central  School, 

Representing  Commercial  Club. 

MR.  C.  H.  DOW, 

Representing  Trades  Council. 

MR.  W.  C.  WHEELER, 

Representing  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

MRS.  GRACE  R.  MOORE 


LIBRARIAN. 


ASSISTANT; 


WM.  CURTIS  TAYLOR. 


MISS  AMY  HALL 


The  City  Library  of  Tacoma, 


N the  completion  of  the  present  City  Hall  the  city 
^cLf  council  of  Tacoma  generously  gave  to  the  public 
library  the  free  use  of  one-half  the  upper  story,  with 
light,  heat  and  janitor  service.  The  little  library, 
which  had  been  started  by  private  enterprise  some  few  years 
before,  notably  by  Mrs.  Grace  R.  Moore,  the  originator, 
and  Walter  J.  Thompson,  a large  donor,  had  occupied  four 
small  rooms  in  the  Ball  block  on  C street.  There  the  city 
had  generously  aided  it  with  funds.  'The  change  to  our 
present  elegant  and  spacious  quarters  attracted  more  widely 
the  attention  of  citizens,  who  soon  became  better  acquainted 
with  the  merits  of  the  undertaking.  Although  the  unpar- 
alleled money  stringency  restrained  our  purchases,  borrow- 
ers were  increased  and  our  real  usefulness  was  enlarged. 


Over  115,000  visits  by  readers  and  borrowers  have  been 
made  to  this  library  since  May , 1892. 


3 


“iS 'elect  i/our  authors  as  you  select  your  friends.” 


For  our  best  results  we  must  be  content  to  wait  for  more 
favored  times. 

January,  1894,  the  city  received  the  property  and  control 
from  the  former  library  company,  and  a committee  of  three 
members  of  the  council  was  charged  with  direction.  Not- 
withstanding this  arrangement,  by  a wise  provision  political 
influence,  as  far  as  possible,  is  avoided  by  making  the 
librarian’s  tenure  of  office  five  years  and  by  giving  him  the 
appointment  of  his  assistants,  to  be  approved  subsequently  by 
council.  As  a matter  of  fact,  however,  our  council  has  al- 
ways been  a unit  in  its  measures  for  the  library.  Associated 
with  the  council  committee  is  an  advisory  committee  of 
citizens  representing  various  different  interests. 

A report  of  the  property  and  work  of  the  library  has 
been  rendered  monthly  during  the  present  librarian’s  time, 
beginning  May,  1892.  Over  55,000  books  have  <t>een 
loaned,  from  a stock  averaging  not  more  than  1600. 

NUMBER  AND  CIRCULATION. 

At  the  present  time  the  books  in  the  circulating  de- 
partment number  2264  ; in  the  reference  department  there 
are  620;  total  bound  books,  2894.  Unbound  books,  in- 
cluding popular  monthly  magazines,  about  650  ; total  bound 
and  unbound,  3544.  The  loans  in  the  past  twelve  months 
'amounted  to  27,940,  which  is  fourteen  times  our  average 
stock  of  circulating  books.  The  following  classification  may 
be  made  of  these  loans  : religion,  science  and  philosophy, 
671;  history  and  travel,  3714;  fiction,  16,264;  juvenile, 
4496;  all  others,  2795. 


No  book  is  worth  reading  oner  that  is  not  worth  reading 
twice. 


4 


“ Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore  get  wisdom. 


We  have  constantly  on  file  nineteen  newspapers,  repre- 
senting prominent  cities  of  the  country,  and  on  our  tables 
in  all  the  rooms  fifteen  weekly  and  nine  monthly  magazines. 
About  140  persons  daily  avail  themselves  of  this  literature. 

RELATIVELY  LARGE  LOANS. 

The  surest  test  of  public  appreciation  is  the  number  of 
books  loaned  in  proportion  to  our  stock.  We  have  several 
times  recently  given  out  in  one  day  as  many  as  one-fourth 
of  all  the  circulating  books  on  the  shelves,  and  our  loans 
average  fourteen  times  a year  for  every  book.  Of  course  these 
figures  are  relatively  far  in  excess  of  the  circulation  of  larger 
libraries  in  the  older  cities ; but  the  conditions  are  so 
different  that  no  comparison  with  them  would  have  any 
value.  Still  our  large  circulation  is  sufficient  evidence  of 
the  hunger  of  this  community  for  better  library  supplies. 

SELECTION  OF  NEW  BOOKS. 

It  has  been  the  librarian’s  habit  to  get  from  the  users  of 
the  library  lists  of  such  books  as  they  would  like  to  have 
on  the  sheives.  As  the  great  purpose  of  a free  institution 
like  this  is  to  meet  the  wants  of  worthy  people  of  all  con- 
ditions and  all  tastes  there  is  no  way  so  good  as  to  make 
the  public  a “ committee  of  the  whole  ” on  suggestions. 
This  is  said  concerning  individual  wishes ; but  there  are 
collective  wants  deserving  of  even  more  earnest  consider- 
ation by  library  authorities. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AND  THE  SCHOOLS. 

In  these  days  the  progressive  public  library  holds  a very 
close  relation  to  the  schools.  For  nearly  two  years  we  have 


Seattle  ha s a fine  public  library ; but  like  our  own  it 
needs  a support  that  shall  keep  pace  with  it.  We  combine 
to  this  end.  5 


Use  your  influence  and  sign  for  the  better  raising  of  funds. 
It  means  many  thousands  of  books  in  a short  time. 


endeavored,  with  limited  means,  to  carry  duplicates  of  the 
list  of  books  asked  for  by  the  superintendent  of  education 
as  supplemental  to  the  public  school  text  books.  (See  report 
of  the  Tacoma  city  schools,  i892-’93,  p.  103.) 

As  our  means  enlarge  it  will  be  our  purpose  to  be  far 
more  effective  here  on  lines  that  will  suggest  themselves  as 
the  work  proceeds. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AND  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  labor  organ  zations  have  a just  claim  to  ample 
recognition  in  the  selection  of  our  literature.  We  find 
among  them  thoughtful  readers,  disposed  to  look  for  them- 
selves into  history  and  economic  facts  and  their  bearings 
on  the  relations  of  society.  The  ability  to  do  this  justly  is 
of  the  highest  importance.  The  Trades  Council  of  Tacoma 
has  been  prompt  to  see  the  advantages  offered  by  us  and  is 
active  in  this  interest ; and  its  appointment  of  its  president 
on  our  advisory  committe  is  a fitting  recognition  of  these 
inter-relations. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AND  LITERARY  AND  ART  CLUBS. 

Tacoma  is  very  rich  in  societies  for  the  cultivation  of 
literature  and  art.  They  are  constantly  in  need  of  both 
circulating  and  reference  books.  Hitherto  we  have  been 
able  only  scantily  to  meet  this  want. 

More  ought  to  be  said  on  these  lines,  but  it  is  enough 
to  add  that  our  proper  place  will  not  be  reached  until  trades- 
man and  teacher,  mechanic  and  agriculturist,  editor  and 

Oet  together  such  books  as  you  can  spare  and  send  us 
word  to  collect  them. 


6 


Don't  expect  outsiders  to  believe  in  our  city  unless  we  be~ 
lieve  in  its  public  library. 

public  speaker,  and  the  school  pupil  from  the  oldest 
to  the  youngest  shall  think  of  the  city  library  when 
they  need  information  or  inspiration.  Even  now,  much  as 
we  lack,  an  application  to  the  librarian  will  bring  out  more 
from  the  heart  of  our  books  than  appears  on  their  face. 
Let  no  one  hesitate  to  ask  questions.  It  makes  the  librar- 
ian better  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  his  books  and 
that  is  what  he  likes. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AND  OUR  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 

In  this  hurrying  age  and  country  not  all  the  children 
remain  at  school  long  enough  to  be  well  equipped  for  their 
life  work  ; and  yet  they  are  all  to  help  in  shaping  our 
American  society  an  3 institutions.  For  these  future  citizens 
and  citizenesses  nothing  can  take  the  place  of  the  free  libra- 
ry. We  have  a long  table  supplied  with  magazines  and  a 
closely  filled  case  of  books — all  too  few — specially  for  them. 
Young  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  by  their  cabin  fires  poring 
over  their  one  or  two  books,  are  inspiring  representatives  ; 
but  the  public  library  does  better  for  its  young  people  than 
that.  Our  returning  books  might  speak  of  many  a bright 
home  scene,  but  they  could  also  tell  of  unsympathetic  at- 
mospheres wherein  themselves  and  eager  young  faces  bent 
over  them  were  the  only  things  hopeful.  If  we  look  for  in: 
spiring  facts  on  this  line  we  shall  find  plemy  of  them.  As 
a specimen  we  know  of  an  elevator  boy  who  keeps  fastened 
up  in  his  monotonous  cage  one  of  our  books — always  a 
classic — which  he  peruses  between  “lifts.”  Bright  boy 

The  library  tax  will  set  us  on  our  feet  handsomely  with 
plenty  of  books  and  plenty  of  hours. 


7 


There  is  more  in  our  books  than  is  shown  by  the  titles. 
Consult  the  librarian. 


your  passengers  little  think  of  the  young  life  that  is  being 
lifted  up  the  while ! 

It  is  no  mean  responsibility  of  the  management  to  feed 
these  young  minds  so  wholesomely  as  to  build  up  while  en- 
tertaining, with  books  both  attractive  and  good  in  a large 
sense.  Thanks  to  the  wealth  of  modern  literature  there 
need  not  be  in  the  juvenile  series  a single  book  on  the  one 
hand  dry  or,  on  the  other,  slushy. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  BRANCH  LIBRARIES. 

The  modern  library  is  alive  to  the  fact  that  it  has  to  fill 
toward  the  public  the  double  office  of  instructor  and  enter- 
tainer. Reference  has  already  been  made  to  our  efforts  to 
furnish  the  schools  with  such  reading,  outside  of  their  study 
routine,  as  the  teachers  may  approve.  Many  progressive 
libraries  place  branches  in  the  prominent  schools  for 
the  convenience  of  teachers  and  pupils.  As  this  would 
involve  a permanent  reduction  of  the  stock  on  our  own 
shelves  we  could  not  afford  the  undertaking  at  present. 

BUT  SHALL  WE  OT  BEG  I WITH  CAUTAUQUA  BEACH? 

A temporary  loan  of  books  in  quantity  might  be  made 
to  the  intellectual  summer  colony  at  Chautauqua  Beach. 
That  is  composed  largely  of  our  readers,  and  it  would  be  to 
their  interest  and  ours  to  furnish  such  accommodation. 

PUBLIC  LECTURES  TO  BE  STARTED  NEXT  WINTER. 

Either  in  our  rooms  or  in  a more  central  place  it  is 
intended  later  in  the  year  to  commence  a series  of  lectures 


The  librarian  doesn't  know  about  everything ; but  he 
wants  to.  _ 


8 


Visitors  to  the  Interstate  Fair  will  have  a cordial  recep- 
tion at  our  rooms. 

on  historical,  literary  and  industrial  subjects  by  speakers  of 
reputation,  some  of  whom  have  already  been  engaged.  We 
have  only  been  deterred  by  scarcity  of  funds  from  prosecut- 
ing this  purpose  long  ago. 

OUR  SYSTEM  OF  OPEN  SHELVES.' 

Until  a comparatively  recent  time  it  was  thought  by 
many  librarians  that  the  certainty  of  misplacement  and  the 
danger  of  something  not  so  innocent  made  it  out  of  the 
question  to  have  first  class  library  management  if  the  pub- 
lic had  access  to  the  shelves.  But  this  subject  was  very 
fully  discussed  at  the  convention  of  librarians  in  Chicago 
last  year,  and  the  weight  of  opinion  seemed  to  favor  free 
handling  of  the  books  by  the  people.  This  has  always 
been  the  rule  here.  It  is,  indeed,  not  without  serious 
objections ; but  it  is  more  democratic  and  the  disposition 
in  a people’s  free  library  should  be  to  consult  the  conven- 
ience of  the  people  rather  than  the  ideal  orderliness  which 
would  delight  the  librarian.  This  does  not  mean,  however, 
that  a disorder  is  to  be  allowed  which  would  embarrass 
the  people  themselves  by  the  utter  displacement  of  the 
books. 

HOW  TO  SUPPORT  THE  LIBRARY. 

By  the  enabling  act  of  the  state  of  Washington  it  is 
contemplated  that  public  libraries  shall  get  their  support 
from  a proportion  of  the  fines  and  licenses  paid  to  the  city. 
By  a recent  ordinance  this  library  receives  five  per  cent,  of 


Newspaper  Reading  Room  open  early  and  late  every 
day  in  the  week. 


9 


Library  hours  at  present,  from  10  A.  M.  till  5 P.  M.  Also 
Saturday  evenings  from  7 till  9.  Newspaper  room,  open 
early  and  late. 


the  revenue  so  obtained.  A few  of  the  objections  to  this 
plan  might  be  here  stated  : 

First. — The  fund  is  uncertain,  and  hence  unfavorable 
to  making  the  best  contracts  for  supplies. 

Second. — It  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  the 
city  in  productive  businesses  and  in  settled  home  population- 

Third. — It  relieves  from  taxation  about  one-third  of  the 
owners  of  city  property — the  non-resident  investors — who 
get  the  benefit  of  all  that  a public  library  means  to  the 
prosperity  of  a city  without  helping  to  pay  for  it. 

A small  library  tax  on  the  assessable  property  of  the 
city  would  secure  to  us  at  all  times  a good  working  income. 

Nobody  would  feel  such  a tax,  but  it  would  even  now 
give  us  thousands  of  new  books  every  year ; and  in  five 
years  we  should  have  a large  library: 

Long  public  hours  would  follow  at  the  earliest  time  pos- 
sible. 

The  public  library  of  Seattle,  and  probably  that  of  Spo- 
kane, also  needing  more  funds,  will  join  us  in  petitioning  the 
next  legislature  to  authorize  cities  of  the  first  class  to  levy  a 
library  tax  instead  of  the  present  method  of  support.  Many 
of  our  citizens,  large  tax-payers  as  well  as  small,  have  signed 
petitions  for  this  improvement.  The  reader  is  invited  to 
append  his  name  to  the  petition  now  at  the  library.  Many 


4 4 Wisdom  cannot  be  gotten  for  gold  ; neither  shall  silver 
be  weighed  for  the  price  thereof P 


io 


Reading  needs  to  be  wholesome  as  well  as  ceding.  Des- 
serts have  doubtless  a good  place , but  the  library  wants  to  he 
more  than  a pastry  shop. 

advantages  not  necessary  to  be  specified  here  will  follow 
the  success  of  this  movement. 

Montana  allows  a library  tax  of  one  mill ; and  the  little 
town  of  Helena,  having  only  14,000  population,  with  half  a 
mill  tax  maintains  in  fine  shape  a growing  library  of  13,000 
volumes. 

Indiana  permits  a two  mill  tax. 

THE  LATE  DONATION  RECEPTION. 

A pleasant  reception  was  held  in  the  rooms  of  the 
library  on  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  July,  at  which  nearly 
300  books  were  given  by  the  participants.  The  occasion 
was  enlivened  by  music  and  speeches ; and  in  every  way 
this  gathering  of  500  of  the  library’s  best  friends  was  a 
complete  success. 

BUT  DONATIONS  ARE  ALWAYS  IN  ORDER. 

Do  not  wait  for  public  opportunities.  Donations  of 
books  and  old  numbers  of  magazines  are  solicited.  The 
donor  need  take  no  further  trouble  than  to  get  together  his 
books  and  send  notice  to  the  librarian,  who  will  attend  to 
their  collection. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

The  thanks  of  the  library  are  due  to  the  city  council 
which,  besides  furnishing  it  with  a spacious  and  attractive 
home,  has  with  a perfect  unanimity,  otherwise  done  for  it 

In  the  munificent  quarters  assigned  to.  us  by  the  city  we 
can  accommodate  50,000  books  and  have  reading  room  left. 
We  shall  have  them  before  many  years. 


A word  from  Spokane  just  received  shoivs  it  to  be  in  line 
with  the  direct  library  tax  movement. 

what  seemed  best.  Also  to  the  press  of  Tacoma,  without 
exception,  for  providing  us  with  free  copies  of  their  publica- 
tions and  opening  their  columns  to  all  our  notices  and  reports. 
In  general  we  are  gratefui  to  various  organizations  and  pri- 
vate individuals  for  encouragement  by  gift  and  otherwise. 

The  illustration  page — a reduction  from  a large  photo- 
graph taken  by  the  writer — is  the  generous  contribution  of 
the  Commercial  Engraving  Co.,  of  Tacoma,  and  was  pre- 
pared especially  for  this  pamphlet. 

HOW  OUR  BOOKS  ARE  ARRANGED. 

Finding  lists  are  furnished  on  application  at  the  desk  ; 
but  as  the  arrangement  is  according  to  author  or  subject  an 
easy  way  to  look  up  a desired  book  is  to  consult  the  shelves 
first.  The  fiction  is  on  the  right  as  one  enters  the  library, 
and  the  general  literature  on  the  left. 

In  the  case  of  the  fiction,  each  work  is  prominently 
marked  in  large  type  with  initial  of  its  author’s  real  name  ; 
and  the  books  are  shelved  in  alphabetical  order  from  A to 
Z.  Thus  Clemens  (Mark  Twain),  will  be  found  near  Col- 
lins, and  so  on.  Letters  so  used,  with  distinguishing  figures 
annexed,  form  a mode  of  shelving  known  as  the  Gutter 
plan. 

The  general  works,  on  the  other  side  of  the  room,  are 
arranged  by  the  Dewey  decimal  system,  the  main  features 
of  which  are  as  follows  : 


Lnder  the  present  income  we  hope  to  add  lyjQO  books 
a year  to  our  shelves.  The  proposed  source  would  give  us 
four  or  five  times  that  number. 

1 2 


A little  care  about  returning  books  on  time  would  both 
save  fines  to  the  borrower  and  the  librarian1  s time  in  keeping 
a multitude  of  little  accounts. 


All  subjects  on  which  books  can  possibly  be  written  are 
divided  into  nine  classes.  Publications  covering  the  whole 
field  of  thought,  as  magazines,  dictionaries,  etc.,  being  assign- 
able to  no  one  of  these  classes,  are  marked  zero,  making  a 
tenth  division.  Thus  we  have:  o,  General  Works;  i,  Phil- 
osophy; 2,  Religion;  3,  Sociology;  4,  Language  Study; 
5,  Science;  6,  Useful  Arts;  7,  Fine  Arts;  8,  Literature, 
as  poetry,  the  drama,  essays,  etc.  ; 9,  History.  Each  of 
these  is  again  divided  into  ten  heads.  Thus  we  have  100 
divisions,  formed  by  adding  appropriate  figures  to  each  of 
the  original  ten.  The  reader  will  not  be  carried  into  further 
niceties  of  subdivision  belonging  to  this  system,  as  we  de- 
sign here  only  to  guide  in  a general  way  to  its  use. 

It  is  a convenience  peculiar  to  our  library  to  have  these 
100  divisions  plainly  printed  in  large  type  on  the  front  of 
the  books. 

Walk  around  with  us. 

Do  you  want  a work  on  any  live  social  subject  ? Look 
over  the  3o’s  (Sociology).  The  32’s  will  talk  about  Wo- 
man Suffrage  ; the  33’s  about  the  Labor  Question  and 
the  Tariff ; and  so  on  with  the  rest. 

Or,  do  you  seek  something  in  Science  ? See  here 
among  the  5o’s.  Here  is  Astronomy,  52;  Geology,  55. 
You  will  soon  be  able  to  pick  them  out  for  yourself. 


The  method  of  becoming  entitled  to  borrow  books  is  very 
simple.  Get  a blank  at  the  librarian1  s table  and  learn  the 
requirements. 


3 


An  old  public  library  in  the  far  west,  with  ten  times  '-out- 
number of  books,  did  not  loan  last  year  so  many  as  we,\by 
2,800.  Their  books  go  out  little  oftener  than  once  a year  each . 
Ours  fourteen  times. 


Did  you  say  you  wanted  liistory  ? Well  that  has  a good 
many  branches  ; but  there  is  a relation  in  their  numbers 
which  you  will  soon  learn.  They  are  all  among  the  9o,s. 
Included  in  this  subject  are  Descriptions  of  places,  i.  e., 
Travels.  All  the  books  marked  91  are  Travels.  After  a 
while  you  will  learn  what  particular  places  the  next  figures 
in  the  lower  line  refer  to.  Biography  is  a part  of  History. 
All  the  92’s  are  biographies.  Of  History,  pure  and  simple, 
after  the  first  90,  which  is  General,  we  have  93,  Ancient; 
94,  some  part  of  Europe  ; 95,  Asia ; etc.,  etc. 

With  the  assistance  the  librarian  is  always  glad  to  fur- 
nish, a little  care  in  the  use  of  these  figures  will  make  even 
our  few  shelves — since  they  are  free  and  open — a great 
indexed  treasury  to  the  average  seeker  after  information. 

These  two  systems  of  classification — the  Dewey  for 
general  works  and  the  Cutter  for  fiction — are  used  by 
nearly  all  the  new,  progressive  libraries  the  country  over. 
Some  of  the  old  and  large  ones  adopted  the  reform  ; and 
probably  nothing  but  the  great  expense  of  a change  deters 
others.  The  Dewey  system  especially  marks  the  greatest 
improvement  ever  made  in  library  classification. 

WHERE  THE  TIME  GOES  IN  A PUBLIC  LIBRARY. 

In  the  months  of  July  and  August  320  books  were 
added  to  the  library.  In  addition  to  keeping  up  with 
current  work,  this  small  number  required  more  than  4,000 

It  saves  trouble  and  money  to  begin  right  what  is  to 
endure  and,  grow.  Work  shaped  towards  a good  and  is 
prophetic  of  the  end.  # * 


14 


Diodorus  says  that  over  the  entrance  to  'the  Alexandrian 
Library  was  this  inscription  : 

“ THE  MED  WIN'D  OF  THE  SOUL." 

entries  and  processes,  to  classify  and  prepare  for  easy  refer- 
ence and  identification.  To  the  unpractised  this  may  seem 
excessive.  It  was  once  remarked  to  the  writer  that  he  had 
not  books  enough  to  warrant  so  much  classification.  As 
well  might  one  have  said  to  the  first  builders  of  Tacoma  : 

Set  your  houses  down  anywhere ; you  have  not  enough  to 
warrant  regulated  streets  and  numbering.” 

We  have  over  1000  regular  borrowers.  Besides  being 
served,  their  accounts  have  to  be  kept  straight,  and  track 
must  be  kept  of  all  the  books  out.  The  newspaper  files 
and  the  book  shelves  need  constant  care  to  preserve  their 
order.  Librarians  ought  also  to  know  a good  deal  of  the 
contents  of  their  books ; but  those  are  the  exception  who, 
after  their  in-doors  and  out-doors  work  is  done  have  more 
time  left  than  to  “skim.” 

Wm.  Curtis  Taylor, 

Tacoma , Sept.,  1894.  Librarian. 


We  Wagt  good  bootg  arid 
gew  boob;s;  belt  dog't  let  us 
forget  tlgat  tt|e  good  are  got 
gecessarily  gew,  agd  tl^e 
gew  are  got  gecessarily 
good. 


